Reaming to Bare Wood

[wyfbane]

Hi hi, didnt see this elsewhere and I am a noob so here goes:
Saw an estate pipe on ebay that the guy had reamed to bare wood. Seemed like the walls of the bowl were pretty thin so I passed, but it raised the question: when (if ever) is reaming a pipe to bare wood called for?
And then: How thin can those walls be on a bowl before they are toast?
Thanks

 

[voorhees]

I picked up a 1926 Dunhill and its a small pipe with thin walls to begin with. But had ALOT of cake. I carefully reamed it very close to bare wood. It does smoke a little hot if the tobacco is too wet. I am slowly building a layer of cake again. I might have left more had I known.

 

[puffy]

I guess folks have different opinions about this.I have a canadian style pipe that has thin walls that smokes great.As a rule though I like pipes with thicker walls.I usually just have a thin layer of cake.I don't really know why but I don't ream to bare wood.It's just what seems to work best for me.